Automatic feeding mechanism for machine-tools.



G. WORTON. AUTOMATIC FEEDING MECHANISM FOR MACHINE TOOLS.

Patnted Mar. 8, 1910.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30. 1909.

3 BHEETSSH IBBT INVENTOR O BY WITNESSES:

AT.TORNEY G. WORTON. AUTOMATIC FEEDING MECHANISM FOR; MACHINE TOOLS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.30. 1909.

95 1 1 69-; Patented Mar. 8, 1910.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Big. 2.

' immimmn WITNESSES: 18 INVENTOR I 19 M fiw B M ATTORNEY G. WORTON.

AUTOMATIC FEEDING MECHANISM FOR MACHINE TOOLS;

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1909. I

- Patented Mar.8,1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR subject of the Kin UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE WOR'ION, OF. MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR '10 WESTINGHOUSE EIiEC- 'IRIC &, MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATICIEEDING MECHANISM FOR MACHINE-TOOLS. v

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Application filed January 30, 1909'. Serial No. 475,226.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known, that I, GEORGE Won'roN, a of Great Britain, and a resident of Mano ester, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Automatic Feeding Mechanism for Machine-Tools, of

. which the following is a specification.

- cations, in connection with machines em- My invention relates to feeding mechanism for machine tools and it has for its object to provide a means whereby ma terial fed to or through a cuttin or marking machine shall be so guide and controlled that the successive cuts -or marks made by the cutting or marking instrument shall be spaced apart withabsolute accuracy, whatever may be the speed at which the machine is operated.

My invention is primarily designed for use 1n connection with punching machines employed for punching slots or notches in steel plates used in the manufacture of electrical machines, but it isadapted for more general application and use, it being suit-- able, either with or without slight modifiployed for cutting or marking other materials in order to produce either toothed bars or rings, scales, dial plates, etc., and, in fact, any devices which are rovided with a considerable number of uniformly spaced cuts, notches or markings, whether disposed in an annular series or otherwise.

My invention will be s cifically described as applied to a punc ing press for which it was primarily and specially designed, with the understanding that it may be applied to other machines, to which it may be ada ted, for the purpose of doing any kind .0 work which requires intermittent or step by step operation.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a punching press equipped with my invention. Fig. 2 is a wow, partially in front elevation and partially 1n section, the section being on line 11-11 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of that portion of the punching press shown in Figs. 1 and 2 which pertains specifically to my invention.

The main portions of the punching press shown in the drawin s are of standard 0011- struction and I shal, therefore, give only such description of them as is necessary to enable the structure and mode of operation of my stood.

Journaled in the arms 1 of the frame 2 of the press is a shaft 3 on one end of which is mounted a driving wheel or pulley 4,

which is connected to a line shaft pulley or driving motor by means of a belt 5. The middle portion of theshaft 3 is provided with an eccentric 6, which is surrounded by a collar 7 having ears 8 at one side. The upper end of a rod 9 is pivotally connected tothe ears 8 and its lower end is adjustably attached to a cross-head l0. Projecting through holes in the laterally projecting portions 10 of the cross-head, are rods 11, the lower ends of which are connected by a bar 12. Through the middle portion of the bar 12 operates a cutting *tool 13 with which the lower endof the crosis-head 10 is provided. The relation between the cross-head Patented Mar. 8, 1910.

improvements to be clearly underand the parts11 and 12, which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, is maintained by springs 14: until the said parts are carricd downward, and then the bar 12 is arrested by the plate to be punched, and the springs 14 yield to permit the tool to do its work. i 4

The starting and stopping of the press areetfected by means of a clutch device 15, which is controlled through an arm 16, link 17 a lever arm 18, a shaft 19 and a treadle 20, at the will of the attendant, or by the parts justdescribed (except the treadle 20) and a rod 21, the upper end of which is engaged by a portion of the feeding mechanism when it is desired to stop the operatlon of the press automatically, upon completion 7 of a cycle of o erations.

The parts thus far described pertain to standard machines and have been illustrated and described merely for the purpose of setting forth the relations in which my improvement is used.

Projecting laterally from one side of the frame of the press is an arm 22, on the outer end of which is mounted a spring-actuated holding pawl 23.

J ournaled upon the horizontal portion of the frame 2 is an annular wor holding member 24;, comprising a brake wheel 25 and a-ratchet wheel 26, the teeth of the ratchet wheel being in position to be successively engaged by the holding pawl 23 and of such dimensions as may accord with the spacing of the cuts to be made by the punching tool l3 in the sheet steel carried by the worlr holder.

'Mounted concentrically with the work holder 24: is an arm 27, which projects laterally beyondthe eriphery of the work holder and is provided, at its outer end, with a spring-pressed pawl 28 in position to engage the teeth of e ratchet wheel 26. One end of a rod 29 is connected to the arm 27?, the other end of the said rod being connected to one arm of a bell crank lever 30, which is pivotally supported on the frame of the machine at 31. The other arm of the bell crank lever 30 is connected, by means of rod 32, to a wrist pin 33, with which a wheel 34, mounted on one end oil the shaft 3, is provided.

The brake wheel 25 is surrounded by a I brake band 35, preferably of steel, provided with a leather lining, but made of other ma terials if desired. The adjacent ends 36 of the brake band 35 are connected together by means of a screw threaded rod 37, and

are so adjusted with reference to each other as to make a fairly close lit between the band and the wheel, but so as to permit movement of the wheel under action of the parts 2'2, 28,- 29, 30, 32, 33 and 3st, the said pawl 28 and its operating mechanism byv means of a coil-spr ng 39, and the grip of the brake band upon the brake wheel is su'lhcient to insure a slight backward movement of the work holder, under: the action of the spring 39, when the holder is released by a backward movement of the pawl 28.

The various parts of the machine are so timed in operation that, as the punching die is raised, after making a cutin the steel plate, the pawl 28, actuated by the link and lever mechanism, above described, carries the work holder forward sli 'htly more than the distance represented by t e length of a tooth, sothat the holding pawl 23 is separated a slight distance from the holding endot the corresponding tooth of the ratchet wheel. The operating mechanism for the arm 27 at this instant draws the arm, and consequently the pawl 28, backward, and the spring39, acting through the brake band upon the brake wheel, moves the work holder backward sufi'iciently to seat the pawl 23 against the holding end of the corresponding ratchet tooth and, at this instant, the punching die descends and cuts another slot or notch in the steel plate. The operation just described is repeated until the entire series of slots or notches have been punched, the press then being automatically stopped, a new plate inserted and the automatic punching operation re sated.-

My invention not on y insures accuracy of operation throughout a long and substancameo tially indefinite period of service because material wear ofthe arts is eliminated, but it erinits of a spec of operation not hereto ore attained or even approximated.

A machine equipped with my invention may be operated at the maximum speed at which the punching die will do its work properly without unpairing the spacing function which the invention is designed to perform. 1

lt will be readily understood that the speed and accuracy which are attained in the operation of the machine herein described may also be secured in connection with ma-' chines employed for making spaced cuts or marks in or upon other materials and for other purposes than those herein 5 ecifically set forth, and I desire it to be a so understood that variations in structural details, either with or without minor changes in operation, may be made if found necessary or desirable, provided the operation is such as to insure a positive and accurate stop for the laterally movable member at the end of each movement ste whatever'ma be the direction or extent 0 which the positive action is eflected.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine tool, the combination with a work holder, or means for arresting backward movements thereof at definite points,

means for moving said work holder forward in successive steps slightly beyond said arresting points and means for returning the same to said arresting points.

2. The combination with an intermittingly actuated work holder, of means for arresting backward movement thereof at definite points, means for moving said work holder forward in successive steps slightly beyond said arresting points and means for returning the same to said arresting points.

3. The combination with a work holder provided with a series of ratchet teeth, an actuating pawl to engage said teeth, means for moving said actuating pawl a distance slightly in excess of the length of a tooth, a holding pawl and means for automatically moving the work holder in a reverse direction to seat the holdin pawl when the operating pawl is retracte a 4. The combination with a work holder provided with a series of ratchet teeth, a

reciprocating operating pawl serving to suc cessively engage said teeth and move the hol ing pawl when the actuating -pawl is retracted.

5. The combination with a rotatable work holder comprising a band wheel and a ratchet wheel, of an actuating pawl, and means for moving the same a distance cooperating with the brake band toseat the v 'sli htly in excess of the l en h of a tooth, a

wardly to seat the holding device just prior 7 to each'forward movement of the recipro-v eating tool.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto 15 ho ding pawl, a brake ban and means cooperatln with the brake band for seating the hOIdlIlE pawl when the actuating pawl is retracte subscribed my name this seventh day of J an- (Sl. Tfhe COmbifiIZIIiaiQD with ba reciprolcating nary, 1909. 4

too 0 a work 0 er rotata 1e in a p ane at 4 right angles to the direction of operation of GEORGE WORTON' said tool, means for m'ovingvthe work holder. Witnesses forward step-by-step,- a holding device and G. W. PINNER,

means for moving the work holder reari J. S. PECK. 

